The Heritage Cedar Glasshouse

A Little Piece of History

Since the eighteenth century exotic plants, fruits and flowers have been imported by explorers and travelers from all over the world into our cooler northern hemisphere. The aspiration to cultivate such species dates back to the 1800’s and a basic structure being designed to shelter and tender young plants. Due to the costly materials and manufacturing involved, such buildings were limited to the likes of aristocracy and wealthy landowners. In time, through research and development, the early glasshouse was produced. In 1858 Messrs Messenger & Co - Horticultural Builders and Hot Water Engineers were established with the likes of Boulton & Paul Ltd in 1864, and due to popular demand, many more glasshouse producers to follow between 1870 and 1890. The popularity and nation’s love of gardening was born.

Our Celebration

In celebration of our 23rd year in British manufacturing, recognition to history, and our nation's love of gardening we are proud to introduce our unique Heritage collection of glasshouses.

The Heritage Glasshouse

Inspired by the original Messenger & Co glasshouse, we have created replicas for such recognised bodies as The National Trust, together with various listed buildings of historical importance and gardens of England. The Heritage has been created for the most discerning. Our western red cedar is tight grained, heart wood which is supplied by members of the Timber Federation who recognise the responsibility and importance of the quality of timber they supply. In addition, all of our timber is PEFC certificated and therefore legally and sustainably fell, protecting the forests and supporting communities for future generations. The glasshouse features gothic style doors, handcrafted sculptured supporting frames and chamfered rafters. In keeping with the original Messenger and also Boulton & Paul glasshouses we include a mechanised roof and side ventilation system, with Victorian style iron work fitted throughout to maximise the strength of the glasshouse. Each glasshouse is individually hand crafted and made to your exact specification. Having our own in-house design team enables us to produce drawings and assist with any aspect of listed building consent and approval you may require. A yearly service contract is provided with the Heritage glasshouse.

A custom designed manual casement window system allows complete control over growing conditions within the greenhouse space. The linked lever system opens all side casement windows simultaneously, saving time and increasing growing space.

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The above picture is a 13ft x 60ft white painted bespoke greenhouse installed at The National Trust's Blickling Hall Estate, Norfolk. The estate dates back to the 15th century and includes 55 hectares of gardens. We also manufactured and supplied the adjacent coldframes. The estate is open to the public and an ideal opportunity to see the craftsmanship of Woodpecker greenhouses, against the back-drop of Blickling Hall's beauty and history.

The greenhouse has been designed with 6" x 2" rafters to match the pre-existing building replaced by Woodpecker. The greenhouse has also been designed to complement the existing manual mechanical ventilation system.

By request of the National Trust to keep the same characteristics as the previous greenhouse, the roof glazing has been split into multiple pieces. The haunches fitted within the greenhouse ridge are typical of the late 19th century Boulton and Paul designed greenhouses.